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James Harrison
| birth_place = Burton upon Trent, England | death_date = | death_place = | resides = Orlando, Florida Huntington Beach, California | billed = Burton upon Trent, England | spouses = Eve Torres (m. 2004) | trainer = The Undertaker Shawn Michaels Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat | debut = November 9, 1997 | retired = }} James Steven Harrison (born February 6, 1981) is an English professional wrestler, who is currently signed to the WWE, he has been with the company since 1996 one of just six currently on the roster who has been with the company for 20 years. He debuted in the WWE (then known as the WWF) on November 9, 1997 at Survivor Series where he successfully defeated Owen Hart to become WWF Intercontinental Champion. He won continued to be one of the top wrestlers throughout The Attitude Era, a boom period in WWF business in the late 1990s and early 2000s and was one of the biggest factors in helping the WWE win the ratings war against there competition World Championship Wrestling (WCW). This success was mainly thanks to his "British Brawler" gimmick and his athletic ability, Harrison would perform moves many superstars wouldn't even consider. His success continued towards the back end of the Attitude Era and beyond thanks to the introduction of "The Demon" gimmick, a gimmick often considered one of the greatest of all-time. Harrison was hailed in 2016 as the WWE greatest ever heel, having been a heel from 1998 until 2003 and then from 2006 until 2007 and from 2008 until leaving The Authority in 2014 before becoming heel again in February 2016. Throughout his career to date he has held 79 titles in the WWE; he is a 17-time WWE World Champion, a five-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, a six-time WWE United States Champion, a four-time WWE European Champion, a 29-time WWE Hardcore Champion, a one-time Million Dollar Champion, a 16-time WWE Tag Team Champion and a one-time ECW Champion. This makes him the ninth Triple Crown Champion and the sixth Grand Slam Champion, he also won two Money in the Bank contracts, three Royal Rumbles, two King of the Ring titles and twenty Slammy Awards. Harrison is one of just two WWE wrestlers to win a title prior to their twentieth birthday the other being René Duprée though Harrison won his first prior to his seventeenth birthday and by the time his twentieth birthday came along Harrison had already won 13 titles. Throughout his career Harrison has headlined ten WrestleManias (XV, 2000, X-Seven, XIX, 21, 22, XXIV, XXV, XXX and 31), James Harrison's WrestleMania record his overall WrestleMania record stands at 17–3, losing to John Cena at WrestleMania 22 and to Seth Rollins in a triple-threat at WrestleMania 31, he also saw Daniel Bryan force Batista to submit in a triple threat match at WrestleMania XXX. He is also noted for his Undefeated SummerSlam streak similar to the WrestleMania streak of The Undertaker though Harrison's streak stands at 18–0. He has been named by PWI at their number one wrestler in the world nine times including from 2008 until 2014 and has always ranked inside the top ten. Dave Meltzer has awarded Harrison fourteen 5-Star matches more than any other WWE superstar. Harrison is believed to have had more matches than any other wrestler in history according to The Pro Fight Database he has fought almost 2400 matches in 19 years. Professional Wrestling Career 'World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment' 'Training (1996–1997)' 'Championship pursuits and feud with Triple H (1997–1999)' 'Feud with Kurt Angle and The Demon (1999–2001)' 'The Reapers and dominance of the tag team division (2002–2005)' 'WWE Champion and singles division dominance (2006–2009)' 'Record-breaking tag team title reign (2009–2014)' 'The Authority, feud with Daniel Bryan and record-breaking titles (2014–15)' 'Return of The Empire and feud with The Authority and The Wyatts (2015)' On the July 20, 2015 episode of Raw ''The Authority were in the ring giving a promo before Harrison appeared and approached Triple H and told him that "Next week The Authority should prepare for hell. We will return." He would then emerge again on July 27 by himself with The Authority in-ring before the theme music for The Empire of Pain began playing and Harrison was joined in-ring by Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Cesaro and Randy Orton. 'Bullet Club and feud with Matthew Harrison (2016–present) Harrison began 2016 by defeating Shinsuke Nakamura on'' Raw in one of the most anticipated matches of all-time. The match was one of the longest in ''Raw ''history but one of the best of all-time, it was back and forth for 10 minutes before Nakamura hit his ''Boma Ye ''finisher on Harrison he kicked out at two Harrison quickly got up and hit Nakamura with an ''F-5 ''and he kicked out. Harrison eventually won after hitting Nakamura with a ''Curb Stomp ''thus ending the moves ban and pinning him after a ''Tombstone Piledriver. On Raw ''on January 11, 2016 Roman Reigns took part in a one vs. all match and after he was being attacked by The New Day, Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus he was then hit with an ''F-5 ''by Brock Lesnar but after this Harrison walked down to the ring chokeslamming Lesnar and hitting him with an ''F-5 ''of his own officially setting up a US title match at the 2016 Royal Rumble. Harrison successfully retained the title. As Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns were announced alongside Brock Lesnar as the main event of Fastlane (2016), their friendship was put to the test and would ultimately lead to the break-up of The Empire of Pain. During a promo from Harrison, Reigns, Ambrose and The Usos they were interrupted by the Bullet Club, before Harrison attacked them before acknowledging the Bullet Club with the "Too Sweet" gesture thus turning Harrison heel for the first time since leaving The Authority. Harrison successfully defeated Alberto Del Rio at Fastlane in a tables match to retain his WWE United States Championship. Harrison alongside his brother Matthew took on The New Day at WWE Roadblock in their mandatory rematch for the WWE Tag Team Championship, this was delayed due to Matthew's severe injury in the match in which they lost the titles. This match was highly praised as saw James awarded his fourteenth five match star match by the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter marking the first time a WWE tag match had been awarded the honour. Later on in the night Harrison defeated Baron Corbin, Luke Harper, Alberto Del Rio, Chris Jericho and Tyler Breeze in a six-way elimination match for his United States Championship It was announced on Raw on March 21, 2016 that Harrison would defend his WWE United States Championship against Triple H at WrestleMania 32 in a no holds barred match, the week prior it was announced he alongside his brother would defend their WWE Tag Team Championship titles at WrestleMania in a 3-on-2 no holds barred handicap against The New Day. On the March 24, 2016 episode of SmackDown! Harrison defended the US title successfully against Sami Zayn thus meaning he would have held the title for over 300 days, this made it only the third reign under the WWE banner to surpass 300 days. James alongside his brother successfully his tag team title against The New Day they were helped out by their sister Ana Sanchez who hit an RKO ''on Xavier Woods. In his US title match against Triple H his wife Eve Torres returned on what was their tenth anniversary and performed her finisher ''The Heart Breaker ''on Triple H's wife and manager Stephanie McMahon as Harrison securred victory and retained his title. Alongside his brother he will defend his tag titles against Enzo and Cass at Payback after Enzo and Cass won a number one contender's tournament. Harrison unsuccessfully defended his US title in a ladder match against Apollo Crews, The Miz, Damien Sandow, Neville, Tyler Breeze at Payback which Sandow won ending Harrison's reign at 336 days. Earlier in the night he and Matthew Harrison were scheduled to face Enzo and Cass in a tag team title match but less than four minutes in Enzo Amore suffered a severe concussion and the match ended in a no contest. The following night on ''Raw The Brothers faced The Vaudevillains with their tag team titles on the line and were unsuccessful in defending them after the match James attacked his brother and setting up a World Heavyweight Championship match at Extreme Rules. The match was considered one of the most brutal in WWE history in which Matthew won pinning James for the first time since Extreme Rules in 2014, a rematch was set up on Raw ''the following for Money in the Bank. The rematch at Money in the Bank would be even more brutal than Extreme Rules in a match that lasted over 45 minutes Matthew retained his title on again via pinfall. Filmography Television Personal Life Harrison is currently married to fellow professional wrestler Eve Torres and has been since 2004, with whom he has four daughters, Caitlin (born 2003), Ashlynn (born 2005), Louise (born 2007) and Freya (born 2015). He also has a daughter Sophia who was born in 1997 and is currently wrestling in WWE's developmental programme NXT under the ring name Lena. Harrison comes from a highly successful family, his father founded Apple, Inc. and his mother also plays a huge role in the company. He also has many successful wrestlers in the family being the older brother of Matthew Harrison and the twin brother of Ana Sanchez. He also has two younger sisters Laura a singer and Victoria an actress and model. Through marriage he is also related to former WWE Diva Aksana who is his brothers wife, Ana's husband Randy Orton, Laura's husband Seth Rollins and Victoria's husband Dean Ambrose. Former WWE superstar Mr. Kennedy was once related to Harrison as well as he was Ana's husband for five years. In Wrestling *'Finishing Moves **''Rail Slam'' (Inverted front powerslam) **''Phoenix Splash (Corkscrew 450° splash) – 1997–99 – innovated (used as a signature thereafter) **RKO (Jumping cutter) – 1999–2002 (used as a signature rarely thereafter) **''Venom Strike ''(Fireman's carry cutter) – 2002–present *'Signatures''' **Brainbuster – 2016–present **''Buckle Bomb (Turnbuckle powerbomb) **''Buckle Smash ''(Reverse STO into the turnbuckle) **''CCS Enzuiguri ''(Enzuigiri while facing away from a cornered opponent) **Chokeslam **Curb Stomp'' (Running stomp to the back of opponent's head) – innovated **''Death drop'' (Apron DDT) **Diving clothesline **''F-5 (Fireman's carry facebuster) – innovated **''Famouser ''(Leg drop bulldog) **Fireman's carry roundhouse kick – 1997–2000 **[[Hell's Gate|''Hell's Gate]] (Modified gogoplata) **Multiple suplex variants ***Belly-to-belly ***Chokehold – innovated ***Exploder ***German **''Pelé kick (Overhead kick or backflip kick) **Powerslam **Samoan drop **Shooting star press – 1999–2004, 2015–present (used as a springboarding move from 2004–15) **Springboard 450 splash **''Snap Trap / Black Widow ''(Octopus hold) – innovated **''Suicida Shot ''(Suicide somersault senton) **Superman Punch – 1997–2009, innovated **''Tombstone Piledriver ''(Kneeling reverse piledriver) *'With The Undertaker' **'Double team finishing moves''' ***'Spike Tombstone Piledriver ***''Midnight Doom ''(''Last Ride ''(Undertaker) followed by a ''Phoenix Splash ''(Harrison)) **Double team signature moves' ***'Double chokeslam *'Managers' **'Paul Heyman **Paul Bearer **Natalya **'Eve Torres' *'Wrestlers Trained' **Randy Orton **Seth Rollins **Roman Reigns **Dean Ambrose **Brock Lesnar **''For others see List of wrestlers trained by James Harrison '' *'Nicknames' **"The Hitman" **'"The (Blood-soaked) Demon"' **"The Champ" **'"The Daredevil"' *'Entrance Themes' **'"Walk" '''by Pantera (November 9, 1997 – present; used under "The British Brawler" gimmick) **'"For Whom The Bell Tolls"' by Metallica (February 14, 1999 – present; used under "The Demon" gimmick) **"King of Kings" by Motorhead (June 19–September 21, 2011; used as part of The Brothers, August 19, 2013 – October 26, 2014; used whilst part of The Authority) **"Ministry" by Jim Johnston (March 29, 1999 – September 23, 1999; used whilst part of The Reapers) **"American Bad Ass" by Kid Rock (May 21, 2000 – December 4, 2000; used whilst part of The Reapers) **"Rollin'" by Limp Bizkit (December 10, 2000 – May 6, 2002; used whilst part of The Reapers) **"Dead Man Walking" by Jim Johnston (May 19, 2002 – September 19, 2002; used whilst part of The Reapers) **"You're Gonna Pay" by Jim Johnston (September 22, 2002 – November 16, 2003; used whilst part of The Reapers) **'"Rest in Peace"' by Jim Johnston (March 14, 2004 – February 21, 2011; January 30, 2012 – present; used whilst part of The Reapers) **"Awaken" by Disturbed (November 25, 2004–October 31, 2005; used whilst part of The Brothers) **"Pain Redefined" by Disturbed (November 1, 2005–June 13, 2011; used whilst part of The Brothers) **"Curl of the Burl" by Mastodon (September 18, 2011–May 2, 2016; used whilst part of The Brothers) **"Master of Puppets" (February 14, 1999–March 26, 2001; used whilst part of The Empire of Pain) **"The Game" by Disturbed (April 1, 2001–May 16, 2004, May 21, 2006–October 2, 2011, July 23, 2012, July 27, 2015–February 15, 2016; used whilst part of The Empire of Pain) **'"Shot'Em" by QBrick (February 15, 2016 – present; used as part of Bullet Club) Championships and Accomplishments *'''WWE **WWE (World Heavyweight) Championship (9 times) **World Heavyweight Championship (8 times) **WWE Intercontinental Championship (5 times) **WWE United States Championship (6 times) **WWE European Championship (4 times) **WWE Hardcore Championship (29 times) **Million Dollar Championship (1 time) **WWE Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with The Undertaker (3), Matthew Harrison (2) **World Tag Team Championship (11 times) – with The Undertaker (4), Shawn Michaels (3), Matthew Harrison (2), John Cena (1), Stone Cold Steve Austin (1) **ECW Championship (1 time) **Money in the Bank (2010 – World Heavyweight Championship, 2013 – WWE Championship) **Royal Rumble (2003, 2007, 2008) **King of the Ring (1998, 2000) **Sixth Grand Slam Champion **Ninth Triple Crown Champion **Slammy Award (20 times): ***Extreme Moment of the Year (2008, 2013, 2014) ***Match of the Year (2008, 2013, 2014 (as part of Team Cena), 2015) ***Superstar of the Year (2008, 2009, 2012) ***Tag Team of the Year (2009, 2013, 2014) with Matthew Harrison ***Holy %&@*# Moment of the Year (2010) ***OMG Moment of the Year (2011) ***Feat of Strength of the Year (2012) ***Insult of the Year (2012) ***What a Maneuver! Award (2013) ***THIS IS AWESOME! Moment of the Year (2013) ***Best US Open Challenge match (2014) vs. Seth Rollins *''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' **Wrestler of the Year (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014) **Tag Team of the Year (1999–2002, 2005, 2007 with The Undertaker, 2008–2014 with Matthew Harrison) **Match of the Year (1997 vs. Owen Hart) **Match of the Year (1998 vs. The Rock) **Match of the Year (2001 vs. Eddie Guerrero) **Match of the Year (2004 vs. Kurt Angle) **Match of the Year (2009 vs. Shawn Michaels) **Match of the Year (2012 vs. Brock Lesnar) **Match of the Year (2015 vs. John Cena and Seth Rollins) **Feud of the Year (2001, 2002 vs. Kurt Angle **Feud of the Year (2007, 2008, 2009 vs Triple H) **Feud of the Year (2012 vs Big Show) **Feud of the Year (2014 vs. Seth Rollins) **Feud of the Year (2015 as part of The Empire of Pain vs. Bullet Club) **Most Popular Wrestler (1998, 2004, 2006, 2012–2014) **Most Inspirational Wrestler (1998, 2001, 2005, 2007–2011, 2014) **Rookie of the Year (1998) **Ranked #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2000, 2005, 2008–2014 **Ranked #2 'of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2015 **Ranked '#4 'of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2007 **Ranked '#5 'of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1999 **Ranked '#7 'of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2002 **Ranked '#9 'of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1998 **Ranked '#10 '''of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003 *Wrestling Observer Newsletter' **5 Star Match (1997) vs. Owen Hart on November 9 **5 Star Match (1998) vs. The Rock on January 12 **5 Star Match (1998) vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker and Kane on December 6 **5 Star Match (1999) vs. Ken Shamrock on February 14 **5 Star Match (1999) vs. Mankind on October 17 **5 Star Match (2000) vs. The Rock, Mick Foley and Big Show on April 2 **5 Star Match (2001) vs. The Rock on February 25 **5 Star Match (2001) vs. Eddie Guerrero on April 1 **5 Star Match (2002) vs. The Undertaker on August 25 **5 Star Match (2004) vs. Kurt Angle on March 14 **5 Star Match (2009) vs. Shawn Michaels on August 23 **5 Star Match (2010) vs. Edge on March 28 **5 Star Match (2012) vs. Brock Lesnar on August 12 **5 Star Match (2015) vs. John Cena and Seth Rollins on January 25 **5 Star Match (2016) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura on January 4 **5 Star Match (2016) with Matthew Harrison vs. The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) on March 12 **Wrestler of the Year (1999, 2004–2006, 2008–2012) **Most Outstanding Wrestler (1998–2005, 2014) **Best Box Office Draw (2002–2006, 2015) **Feud of the Year (2001) vs. The Rock **Feud of the Year (2007, 2009) vs. Triple H **Feud of the Year (2014) vs. Daniel Bryan **Feud of the Year (2015) with The Empire of Pain vs. The Authority **Tag Team of the Year (2001) with The Undertaker **Tag Team of the Year (2004, 2005) with Shawn Michaels **Tag Team of the Year (2009–2014) with Matthew Harrison **Best on Interviews (2004, 2009, 2013, 2015) **Most Charismatic (1998, 2003, 2009, 2012) **Best Technical Wrestler (1998–2003, 2014–2015) **Best Brawler (1998, 2007) **Best Flying Wrestler (1998, 2002, 2005, 2009–2015) **Most Underrated (2003) **Match of the Year (2000) vs. The Rock, Mick Foley and Big Show on April 2 **Match of the Year (2001) vs. Eddie Guerreo on April 1 **Match of the Year (2010) vs. Edge on March 28 **Match of the Year (2015) vs. John Cena and Seth Rollins on January 25 **Rookie of the Year (1998) **Best Wrestling Maneuver (1999) CCS Enziguri **Best Wrestling Maneuver (2001, 2006) ''Tope Atomico **Best Wrestling Maneuver (2002) F-5 **Best Wrestling Maneuver (2014) with Matthew Harrison, Crash Bomb **Best Booker (2015) **Best Gimmick (1998–2000, 2006, 2012, 2013) British Brawler **Best Gimmick (2002, 2015) Demonic Wrestler **Best Pro Wrestling DVD (2014) James Harrison: 17 and Counting **Reader's Favorite Wrestler (1999, 2003) **Best Wrestler (2000s) **Best Tag Team (2000s) with Shawn Michaels **Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2003) *'Records' **Most matches: 2,553 **Highest average star rating: 4.22 **Most pay-per-view matches: 257 **Most Summerslam Matches: 18 (Record: 18–0) **Most Raw ''matches: 513 **Most ''SmackDown ''matches: 433 **Most matches of WWE wresters: 2,553 **Most WWE World Championships: 17 **Most WWE United States Championships: 6 (joint with Ric Flair) **Most WWE Hardcore Championships: 29 **Most WWE European Championships: 4 (joint with William Regal and D'Lo Brown) **Most Royal Rumble wins: 3 (joint with Stone Cold Steve Austin) **Most Royal Rumble eliminations in one year: 15 **Most Royal Rumble eliminations: 67 'Lucha de Apuesta record (4–0)'''